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Frankie Boyle may be offensive but he’s not racist, court is told

John Simpson

October 16 2012, 1:01am, The Times

Frankie Boyle is suing the Daily Mirror for branding him a racist comedianTom Pilston for The Times

The comedian Frankie Boyle has launched a lawsuit against the Daily Mirror after the tabloid described him as “racist”. Mr Boyle’s lawyers told the High Court in London that a piece in the newspaper that began “Racist comedian Frankie Boyle” was defamatory.

David Sherborne, for Mr Boyle, told a jury that the newspaper also defamed his client, from Glasgow, by saying he had been “forced to quit” the BBC show Mock The Week. Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, is disputing Mr Boyle’s allegations.

Mr Sherborne said that the comic’s humour was “deliberately challenging” and he did not mind being criticised, but did object to being described as racist.

Mr Boyle “actively campaigned” against racism and complained that the newspaper had “misunderstood”…

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